Silly snits

In important legislative news this past week from our nation's capital, we learn U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert filed a budget resolution that would keep President Barack Obama from playing golf until the president restores tours of the White House.

Oh, brother.

And that exclamation of frustration is aimed at Gohmert and Obama.

Sometimes, it seems the people we elect to serve us go out of their way to be silly. This would be one of those instances.

Obama first, because his action prompted Gohmert's. The president stopped White House tours for the duration of the sequester saying he wanted to avoid overtime that might be caused for the Secret Service.

Oh, brother. Wait, we said that already.

This is obviously a slam at Congress, and particularly the House of Representatives, because that is where most visitors get their "tickets" to take the White House tour. This little bit of a snit from Obama is silly, and it makes people realize just how petty politicians can be sometimes.

But wait! If we needed more proof, along comes Gohmert, who wants to take away the president's golf balls. Gohmert's resolution is that the president cannot use government resources to fly to play golf. We suppose our representative's reasoning is that if tours cause overtime, those golfing trips will, too. That's hard to debate.

Gohmert's resolution wouldn't bother us so much if it was not intended to be just as whiny and nitpicking as the president's tours cancellation. Both decisions sound as if they could have been made on a playground rather than the hallowed halls of democracy.

Neither step does a single thing to push the country toward a resolution of the sequestration problem. If anything, this snit might harden a few hearts. Not in Washington, of course, because we're pretty sure the brains in Washington are as hardened as they can be.

The president should resume the tours and Gohmert should resist the urge, difficult as it will be for him, to be such a snit.

Really, gentlemen, we think both of you know better than to act like this. Please prove to us that you do.

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